TwinBee (character)
is the titular character and main protagonist of the TwinBee series. He is an anthropomorphic and sentient blue aircraft with a single canopy. He was created by a scientist called Dr. Cinnamon, and it is this brilliant man's grandson, Light, its current pilot. TwinBee is WinBee and GwinBee's older brother. TwinBee is present in every game of the series and has also made recurring appearances in many other Konami games, whether it is as a cameo or a fully playable character, including the Parodius and Wai Wai series, to name a few. TwinBee also appeared in pop'n music 17: THE MOVIE as a cameo character and Bombergirl as model figure. In his first localized game in North America, he was renamed Stinger, but has since recovered his original name in following installments. He is voiced by Mayumi Tanaka. Background and history TwinBee is a piloted aircraft fighter that originally appeared in the 1985 video game TwinBee as the main ship controlled by the player. Since then, he has maintained this role in all sequels. TwinBee is always accompanied by a similar pink ship called WinBee, which is controlled by the second player and which has the ability to join with TwinBee to perform combined attacks. In recent games, a third green ship called GwinBee also joins them. The game's story begins in 2801. TwinBee and WinBee are two airships built by Dr. Cinnamon, an genius inventor who created them to defend Donburi Island from invading villains. He also assigned his two own sons, Annamon and Donnamon, as pilots. In the first games, the appearance of the "Bee" ships resembled that of a rocket with a rounded front and two large arms with glove-type fists which allow them to execute various attacks. In the video game Detana!! TwinBee of 1991, a renewal in the aesthetics and history of the series took place and which remains until today. The "Bee" ships are no longer simple vehicles, but are also intelligent autonomous robots. Here, the appearance of TwinBee changed a lot, and his original design, which looked like a rocket, now resembles a sphere with cuffs and turbines on the back. In addition, he acquired large feet to walk and fight on land and a small mouth that allows him to speak. Since this new game, he was assigned his definitive pilot, called Light, who is none other than Dr. Cinnamon's grandson. Another new skill given to TwinBee is the ability to reduce to ⅛ of its original size, so that when he's not fighting he can stay close to his pilot like a pet. In the various anime based on the TwinBee series, it can be seen that this character is a robot capable of speaking fluently and with a friendly, energetic and childish personality. He can talk to his pilot as if they were friends and he can switch from air mode to land mode very easily. In addition to the TwinBee series, this character has appeared in both Wai Wai World games as a controllable aircraft in the shoot 'em up style levels and has also made appearances and cameos in many other installments of the Wai Wai series. He has also played an important role in the Parodius series, where he's often one of the selectable characters and where he appears as an independent, sentient ship without a pilot. Appearance TwinBee is a blue jet mecha with arms and legs, and wears white gloves and blue sneakers. He has yellow turbines and windscreen. Weapons and abilities TwinBee is a fast combat aircraft that is distinguished by having two arms with large fists that allow it to execute different attacks. In classic games, TwinBee is destroyed with a direct impact, although in later games a life bar was added that allows him to withstand several attacks and even recover health. Main attacks These are TwinBee's common attacks; their availability changes according to the game. *'Normal shot': TwinBee fires bullets forward. *'Charge power': TwinBee accumulates power and releases it in a powerful special shot. *'Bomb': He throws bombs with his arms to destroy the enemies on the ground. In many games, the arms are destroyed if they are damaged by the enemy and TwinBee loses this attack. *'Bomber': TwinBee can accumulate the power of the bomb and then release a set of bombs that cause a large explosion on the ground. *'Fist bump': TwinBee can also attack by hitting with his fist forward. Even though this attack has a very short range, it's extremely powerful and can stop smaller projectiles. *'Chibi Blaster': TwinBee's ultimate weapon; sends an army of "mini-TwinBees" that flutter everywhere and kill all enemies onscreen. It has limited use. *'Combined shot': When TwinBee and WinBee come together and take each other's arms, they can make a more powerful combined shot than normal. If they join horizontally they attack with a ray of waves, while if they join vertically they perform a multiple shot that disperses toward the front. *'GwinBee Power-Up': In some games, the GwinBee ship is an item that allows combined attacks when joining TwinBee. *'Throw mate': TwinBee can grab WinBee with his arms and throw her like a projectile that bounces across the screen and defeats enemies that get in her way. The thrown ship becomes invulnerable during this attack. Bell powers TwinBee can get improvements in his arsenal when bell items appear and the player shoots them until they change color. Each bell color gives a different power that varies according to the game. These powers are: *'Speed Up': Makes TwinBee faster. *'Double shot': Changes the normal shot to a double shot. *'Cannon shot': Changes the normal shot to a large shot. *'Laser': Changes the normal shot to a laser shot. *'3-Way': Changes the normal shot for a special attack that disperses projectiles in three different directions to the front. *'Option': Activates a "mini-TwinBee" assistant that follows the player and attacks with the normal shot. These are invulnerable, but are destroyed if TwinBee takes damage. You can activate up to four "Options" at the same time. In some games, you can also choose their behavior. *'Barrier': A force field that surrounds the ship and protects it from all kinds of enemy attacks. It is destroyed after receiving several hits. Attacks in land mode In its robot form, TwinBee is a small spherical android that can walk and fight on the ground without the need of a pilot. *'Acceleration': When running, TwinBee becomes faster and faster and can use this impulse to attack with a sweep. *'Jump': TwinBee performs a jump that serves as an attack to crush enemies. *'Fist blow': Attacks the enemy with his fists. *'Special hit': Accumulates power in his fists and shoots a ball of energy. *'Turbo propeller': TwinBee accumulates power in his turbines and launches himself at great speed. This ability serves to make huge leaps to the sky and also as an attack to run over and destroy enemies, and to break rocks. His thrusters can be used to land slowly during a fall. *'Bellpower': By touching bell items, TwinBee can gain various powers, such as temporary invulnerability, a laser gun, Options, Barrier, Speed-Up and the powerful hammer. Power-ups in Parodius In the Parodius series, TwinBee uses a different power-up system, similar to those in the Gradius series. *'Speed Up': makes TwinBee faster. *'Rocket Punch': Shoots his boxing gloves like powerful rockets that go through and destroy enemies, and then return to his arms. *'Tailgun': Changes the normal shot for a double shot that attacks forward and backward. *'3-Way': Change the normal shot for a triple shot that attacks forward, diagonally-up and diagonally-down. *'Option': Activates a "mini-TwinBee" assistant that follows the player and replicates all of his shots. Up to three "Options" can be activated at the same time. *'Barrier': A spherical force field that surrounds the ship and protects it from minor attacks. It disintegrates after receiving several impacts. Related products *TwinBee (keshi) *TwinBee (mini acrylic stand) Gallery Trivia *The name "TwinBee" is a combination of the two English words "twin" and "bee". This is because the original game starred two identical ships whose designs resembled that of a bee. In the North American localization of the game, the ship was renamed as "Stinger", alluding to this reference. * In the video game Kirby Super Star by Nintendo, there's an enemy called "Capsule J" which is remarkably similar to TwinBee and who even shares a similar color scheme. Apparently, Nintendo noticed this coincidence since in the remake, Kirby Super Star Ultra, the character was redesigned to eliminate the resemblance and was renamed as "Capsule J2". *The official Japanese Konami website uses TwinBee's classic sprite as favicon. *In the video game Parodius Da! for Game Boy, it is revealed in his profile that TwinBee is 17 years old in that game. See also *BaronBee *GwinBee *Light *NiseTwinBee *WinBee *ZakoBee References External links *TwinBee at Wikijuegos - Original version of this article (Spanish) Category:Airships Category:Androids Category:Male characters Category:Detana!! 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